Sloan

ACE. FUCKING ACE.
Amazing performance by the band and the opening band rocked my socks. Who were they?

What can I say?
First I'll start with the opening act...
The Yoko Casionos - a group I'd never even heard of before delivered a great little set. A very high energy, tight performance all around. I was shocked at how good the harmonies sounded...great job and good luck.

Now for Sloan...
It was a fantastic performance...only a few hints that the group was still getting used to playing the new material. It was packed with content from the new album, which was great. The guys were out wondering around before their set. Chris & Patrick seemed really into the "Yoko's" act. All of them were very approachable, and I managed to get autographs from 4 out of 5. Andy wasn't seen much except on stage... he really didn't seem up for the crowd (maybe not feeling well). The crowd was pretty quiet, but all seemed eager to listen. Only one person brought a sign...(it was me). The band seemed to react well to it. The guys even treated us with a few of the old hits - "If it Feels Good Do It", "Everything you've done Wrong", "People of the Sky", "The Lines You Amend", "The Rest of My Life".... During the encore the crowd was screaming for "money city" Patrick came forward on the stage, and looking almost iconic leand on the monitor and played the first few notes...the crowd went nuts.

After the show, the guys were happy to sign autograhs, people got pictures with Chris, Patrick, Greg, and Jay. I managed to get a good one with Chris holding the "Sloan Rocks" sign that I had made up. I'd also like to mention how surprised I was that these guys seemed so eager to speak with the fans...
Thanks for the great show fellas, see you next time.

This show kicked ass! i was at their show last year too and this one was even better! they played like 31 songs it was amazing! next year come to saint john guys!

Great show this year! And I can't believe I was able to stay at the front for the entire show! Great to see the guys have a little more fun than last year. But I could tell it gets a little frustrating to hear the drunk kids chanting money money. I love the new cd, and really enjoyed hearing the new songs live.
Come back again soon. I will be in the front again cheering you on!

Pros: The band was tight; they played really well together and seemed genuinely excited to play their new material. Crowd was small but into it. By the sounds of it, much better than the same show last year. "Who Taught You to Live Like That?" sounded really good and the crowd sang along in the chorus. Playing Living With the Masses and HFXNSHC as a medly was cool. A three-song encore was a treat for the hard-core fans.

Cons: Sound was pretty bad, distorted as well as overly loud. Everything but the bass was a nasty smear, which made it hard to understand the lyrics and sing along. My ears rang for two days straight afterward, which is not cool at all. This was probably the venue's fault, but still, someone should be held accountable.

Also, it would have been nice if Sloan played more of their older material, because the new album was only three days old and few were familiar with it, which rather cuts down the enthusiasm of the crowd. Mixing up the new and old material would have been better in my opinion.

Overall verdict: A good show. Would have been great with hearing protection.